With Manny Pacquiao set for a boxing comeback later this year, Freddie Roach claims that it’s too early for the former Filipino champion to be taking on top prospect Terence Crawford in a bout scheduled for November.

Roach, the long-time trainer of Pacquiao, said that he is concerned with the type of preparation the Filipino boxer will have in time for a bout with Crawford. Despite announcing his retirement from the sport earlier this year, Pacquiao appears to be making a turnaround and will return to the boxing ring soon.

“I always said he would fight again. Right after his last fight we spoke about it and he said he would most likely fight again. He still has a lot left,” Roach said via Boxing News.

“At the moment everyone is mentioning Terence Crawford but I don’t like that fight for November. Almost the entire training camp would be in the Philippines, we wouldn’t be able to fly back to the States until 12 days before the fight.”

The comeback talk has pissed off some Filipino fans, who thought Pacquiao would focus on his political career in the Philippines, where he is an elected senator.

Terence Crawford is an undefeated fighter campaigning in the super lightweight division. The American from Omaha, Nebraska, recently defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) belt and won the World Boxing Council title in the same division after a unanimous decision (UD) win over Viktor Postol last July 23.

Crawford holds a record of 29-0-0 with 20 knockouts. Before his UD win over Postol, he won his last three fights via technical knockout (TKO) over Henry Lundy, Dierry Jean and Thomas Dulorme.

Crawford is ranked as the best super lightweight (140 pounds) by The Ring Magazine and ESPN.

“We’ll also be training in the evenings because Manny will be working in the senate all day, so it won’t be the best camp. Crawford is a great athlete and I wouldn’t want Manny going into that fight if he’s not 100 per cent. I want the November fight to be more of a warm up fight and then for Manny to fight again shortly after – I want it to be a two fight deal,” Roach added in the interview.

Freddie Roach’s declaration that they will hold off a fight against Terence Crawford means that Manny Pacquiao’s comeback in boxing will involve multiple fights. As a senator of the Philippines, Filipinos are expected to criticize their government official for his plans to return to the sport of boxing.